Redefining Coexistence: Leadership, Pragmatism, and Gaps in Diamond Grading Approaches | Ahmed bin Sulayem
The global diamond industry's leadership, including senior WDC and IGI officials, is adopting a pragmatic approach toward lab-grown diamonds, recognizing their legitimacy as an entry-level product. The battle shifts to questions of grading, transparency, and presenting the stone's origin to consumers. IGI maintains the four Cs scale, while GIA and HRD Antwerp take different approaches, creating gaps among gemological institutions.
The global diamond industry is undergoing a perceptual shift: instead of an existential struggle between natural and lab-grown diamonds, the leadership is embracing commercial pragmatism. In May 2026, Ronnie VanderLinden became president and Anoop Mehta vice president of the World Diamond Council (WDC). VanderLinden, president of Diamex and Pintura Lab Grown Diamonds, sees lab-grown diamonds as an entry product that can expand the market. Mehta, president of the Bharat Diamond Bourse and CEO of Mohit Diamonds, was appointed chairman of IGI in June 2025. IGI, which reported that non-set lab-grown diamonds accounted for 54% of its activity in the first quarter of 2026, defends applying the four Cs scale to lab-grown diamonds. In contrast, GIA classified them into 'premium' and 'standard' categories, and HRD Antwerp stopped issuing certificates for non-set lab-grown diamonds. The real debate is about regulation, presentation, and transparency, not the right to exist.